Dear Family of our Lord Jesus Christ,
How are you this Day?
We are praying this morning over all the prayer requests.
I am praying that you love our new format here at the CUP! I am so very thankful for the relationship we have with Jannetta. I know I talk about this “new format” a lot, but it is a HUGE blessing for our ministry to be able to upgrade. Jannetta continues to tweak our system and format.
I pray that this CUP PREACHES to you and yours. I pray that you share it with the world, Shari Johnson and others have encouraged me to be MORE BOLD in proclaiming the greatness of our Lord, Amen!
As a lot of you know I grew up in a farming community. My Grandpa Floyd Caraway farmed 7 miles south of town, outside of Windom, Minnesota. My middle name is Floyd, after my Grandpa. What a wonderful man he was as was Grandma Lena Caraway. They had one of the best farms in Minnesota. Always such a great crop of corn and soybeans, unless of course heavy rains or storms struck. When I would go visit Grandpa and Grandma on weekends I would look at all the farm magazines that Grandpa would read, so last night when I saw this post I had to read it and share this advice from an old farmer, click below………..
These are good! https://www.farms.com/…/27-important-lessons-from-older-farm…
Now I pray you clicked on that link and read what the old farmer had to say!
Now my Grandpa would say the best advice you can get is in the Bible. Grandpa and Grandma were leaders at the Bethany Lutheran Church near Bergen, Minnesota, not to far from the farm. I went to Church there with Grandpa after Grandma passed away in 1978, when I would come home from Brown College we would go there together. I am weeping tears of joy at those memories. I can still hear the advice of my Grandpa and Grandma……let me share this with you…….I have a DEEP PASSION to help people, because I have been given so much help in my life, without that help who knows where I would be. I strive to help children and families, I pray everyone has a Grandpa and Grandma Caraway. I can tell you this that Grandpa gave money to people in the rough times of the 30’s and 40’s and did not expect to be paid back. It breaks my heart when I see children without solid parents and grandparents. I am accused in a good way of growing up in Mayberry U.S.A., I would agree with that claim!
This morning God had me pick up a book that Pastor Leonard Navarre gave me, “What Jesus Demands from the World” by John Piper.
Piper writes, when Jesus says, “do not be anxious about tomorrow,” He is demanding the kind of life that everybody would want—no anxiety. No fear of man or menacing circumstances. But how does Jesus expect this demand to come true when we see things all around us that makes us anxious? Jesus gives us help in two extended treatments about anxiety and fear. Matt. 6: 25-34 and Matt. 10: 24-31.
Everyone can see plainly Jesus’ main point in Matt. 6:25-34, “Do not be anxious.” Verse 25″ “Do not be anxious about your life.” Verse 31″ “Do not be anxious, saying, “What shall we eat?” Verse 34: “Do not be anxious about tomorrow.” But that is a negative way of stating the main point of this passage. There is a positive way found in verse 33—-namely, instead of being anxious, “Seek first the kingdom of God.” In other words, when you think about your life or food or your clothes—-or your spouse or your job or your mission—-don’t fret about them. Instead, make God the King in that affair and in that moment. That is, hand over the situation to His Kingly power, and do His righteous Will with the confidence that He will work for you and meet your needs. If we believe in the Kingship of our heavenly Father, we do not need to be anxious about anything. Virtually everything else in this text is support for Jesus’ demand.
Being anxious is FRUITLESS. “And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life?” Matt. 6:27. The argument is very pragmatic: Anxiety doesn’t get you anywhere. It doesn’t do you any good. Whatever the problem is causing you to feel anxious, you can be sure your anxiety will not reduce the problem. It will only make you and those around you miserable, it will suck you dry! Amen! It will only make you miserable while trying to deal with it. So don’t be anxious. It’s useless.
We must not measure the perfection of God’s provision by some standard below His calling. He does not call us to live in palaces, but to take up our crosses and love people no matter the cost. And when we have finished carrying our crosses—–on torn shoulders, if God Wills—-there will be Kingly robes for us all. The promise to meet all of our needs does not mean He will make us rich. It does not even mean He will keep us alive (“some of you they will put to death,” Luke 21:16). It means He will give us all that we need to do the Will of God. Matt. 6:33.
The picture of the Church is from Bob Hanson who I grew up with in Windom, Minn……….it is a picture of Grandpa and Grandma’s Church they attended, Bethany Lutheran in Bergen, Minnesota. I believe Bob told me that Bethany is celebrating 150 years!!! PTL! PTL! 
WOW! Bob great picture! What peace! The picture is of my Grandpa and Grandma on their 50th Wedding Anniversary!
God Bless you and yours, Dewey, Sharon, Family and FGGAM team
